The Story
1 year in the making
12 steps of failure.
12
hardware iterations
1 year
in the making
July 26th
Production ready Prototype in Hand
01 / The Spark
The calls started as pretend.
In mid 2025 she got a pair of walkie-talkies. She handed one to a friend down the street, and the game became real. They were talking every day, sharing everything:
"My dad stepped in dog 💩 today." "I saw Goonies last night." "Want to come over to play?"
It was simple, playful, real.
02 / Looking for balance
We wanted connection — carefully.
At the same time, I kept seeing headlines about kids and screens—anxiety, distraction, lost sleep.
Parents everywhere were trying to balance connection and protection. I felt it too. My daughter's friends were already getting smartphones, and it was hard not to feel the pressure.
03 / A gentler first step
Talk first. Feeds can wait.
I'm not against screens—cartoons on the weekends, we watch movies and play video games together—but I didn't want her first experience of independent connection to be through something designed to keep her scrolling.
I also didn't want social media pressure, spam, or the open internet to arrive before she was ready. There had to be a gentler middle step.
A lot of parents I know feel the same quiet unease: kids need to reach us, and each other, but smartphones ask for more attention than most eight-year-olds can spare. We wanted connection without the constant pull of a feed.
04 / The name found us
Wolves howl to stay close.
The name started as loop—a safe circle of connection. But my daughter had said it should be written as Loup, the French word for wolf. "Because wolves howl to stay close to their pack," she had learned. And that just made sense.
From idea to prototype.
So I started building. I wanted something small and safe, but still beautiful. A way for kids to talk and stay close, without being pulled into feeds or apps. That became Loup—a screenless, SIM-free voice device that lets kids connect while parents stay in control. Freedom for her. Peace of mind for me.
Who's behind it
A parent who wanted another option
The question was simple: how do you give a kid more independence while keeping connection feeling safe?
A daughter who named the wolf
She turned Loop into Loup—and gave the product its reason for being: staying close to the pack.
Loup isn't another smartphone for kids. It's something new—a smarter first phone. With your support, we can help kids grow up connected in the ways that really matter.